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During the day, it's Dullsville on the floor of the Republican National Convention. The real action is next door in the cavernous hangar that serves as a temporary home to more than two dozen politically minded Internet companies. Welcome to Internet Alley, where political celebrities, garden-variety lawmakers, and hangers-on mill around with cyber-reporters and the execs who run the political Web sites. If you're 35 or older, you'll feel like a dinosaur here.
Fast and informal: A live Webcast interview for Voter.com
The atmosphere is more trade show than political show. Unlike the other media pavilions, where reporters make calls and bang out stories behind blue curtains that separate publications large and small, Internet Alley is one big, open kaffe-klatsch. Schmoozing and product demonstrations are the order of the day. Anyone standing around can watch as a well-coiffed abcnews.com reporter conducts interviews in a makeshift studio.
The open networking is deliberate. To the dot-coms, the political conventions are make-or-break events. The chance to strike partnerships with political players and drum up buzz that will drive traffic to their sites is their Holy Grail (see BW Online, 7/31/00, "Prime Time for Political Dot-Coms -- in the Convention Halls").
"This political cycle is the equivalent, for political Web sites, of Christmas for the e-commerce space," says Jonah Seiger, co-founder of mindshare Internet Campaigns, an online political consultancy. And the GOP convention is round one. "Coming out of here, there will be very few players," predicts Carl Bernstein, executive editor of voter.com, a Web site that caters to both political junkies and ordinary citizens seeking information about politics and policy. Yes, he's that Bernstein, of Woodward & Bernstein and Watergate. But that's ancient history.
To ensure their survival, the political dot-coms are shelling out big bucks on brochures, ads, and parties. When the floor speeches ended on Aug. 1, voter.com welcomed hundreds to its late-night party aboard a private yacht on the Philadelphia waterfront.
Back in Internet Alley, dot-com reps are chatting up lawmakers and political operatives and giving interviews nonstop to -- who else? -- print reporters in search of a story. "With no news at the convention, we're doing interviews all the time," says Todd Vitale, director of political programs for grassroots.com. In two days, Vitale has given about 30. Enough, he hopes, to ensure that grassroots.com remains a political player long after the confetti falls at the conventions' close.
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Pushing E-Government
Does e-government equal e-commerce? Andersen Consulting, chief technologists for the GOP shindig in Philadelphia, sure thinks so. The Reston (Va.)-based spin-off from Arthur Andersen hopes that by showcasing the ways the Web can be used to link constituents and elected officials, the convention will help drum up interest in providing online government services -- the fastest-growing segment of the firm's business. Andersen created a system that lets convention-goers pre-register online for the convention as delegates. And it's running the convention Web site.
Last year, Andersen generated about $500 million in sales -- 8% of its total revenues -- by helping state, local, and federal governments provide services online to constituents. E-government revenues at Andersen soared 86% last year.
"Right now, the guys making the laws don't understand how technology is being used," says Stephen J. Rohleder, managing partner for U.S. government services at Andersen Consulting. He estimates that fewer than one in five lawmakers use their PCs more than once a day. "Once the politicians understand that they can use the Net effectively to connect to citizens, they'll understand the need to spend more money on e-government services," he believes. With Andersen, of course.
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Would Ken Be First Man?
Think the GOP gives short shrift to women and minorities? Not when it comes to Barbie. Especially when she's running for President. Mattel Inc. has been marketing its Barbie for President doll since May (see BW Online, 5/04/00, President 2000 Barbie: The White House or Bust "). And she was tucked into the bulging goodie bag that all GOP conventioneers received upn arriving in Philadelphia.
Mattel Inc. donated some 6,000 of the Barbie for President dolls, decked out in either red or blue dresses, pearls, and decidedly non-Presidential pumps, of course. One version is blond and blue-eyed, another darker-haired, Asian-appearing. A completely unscientific poll by Grassroots.com execs Mike McCurry (one-time Clinton White House press secretary) and Kyle McSlarrow (he ran Dan Quayle's failed Presidential campaign this year) singled out Barbie as the most in-demand freebie and awarded her the Web site's "I Want One of Those" award.
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Maybe If He Had Tipped the Maitre' d...
At one time, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor was worth $13.6 billion. But now that the Securities & Exchange Commission is on his case and his stock has taken a tumble, the one-time wunderkind doesn't seem to have the clout to muscle his way into a party at a Philly diner.
Saylor found himself on the street when a cigar party hosted by AT&T and Representative David Dreier (R-Calif.) was overbooked. Would-be partiers, Saylor included, cooled their heels outside the doors of The Continental, a corner diner with a retro martini-and-olives decor. Saylor, who is known to have political aspirations, says he's an Independent and that he stopped by Philadelphia for the night just "to check things out." He got inside eventually. But by that time, Dreier, the guest of honor, had left.
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Philly's Great Democratizer: The Cheese Steak
Philadelphia has plenty of fine restaurants, but the place de jour for the GOP elite has been Pat's, the Philly cheese-steak joint in gritty South Philly made famous in Rocky. Since the convention began, limos have been pulling up and left idling in front of the stainless-steel façade while bigwigs step up for a steak hoagie, smothered in Cheese Whiz and sauteed mushrooms, peppers, or onions.
"The King of Steaks": They keep 'em coming at Pat's, in South Philly
In the heart of Philadelphia's famous Italian Market, it felt like 100 degrees in the shade, but Arizona GOP Senator John McCain was impeccably dressed in his trademark starched blue shirt and red tie as he bit into a mouth-watering sandwich from "The King of Steaks." "I've been eating here for years," said the ex-GOP Presidential contender. "I love this food." The chef came out to shake hands with the Senator, but most of the locals waiting in line for their Sunday afternoon cheese-steak fix paid little heed.
The next day, American Online founder Steve Case -- decked out in a Hawaiian shirt (he's a native of the Aloha State) and sunglasses -- was happily esconced with his wife Jean at a streetside metal table, enjoying you know what.
By Amy Borrus, Lorraine Woellert, and Paula Dwyer in Philadelphia Edited by Douglas Harbrecht
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Copyright 2000, Bloomberg L.P.
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